A U.S. Attorney has confirmed that laboratory testing determined a white crystal-like substance discovered in a van belonging to Lorenzo Salgado Araujo did not contain methamphetamine. The finding came approximately one month after Salgado Araujo’s death during an immigration enforcement operation in Houston.
The 52-year-old Mexican national was fatally shot by ICE officers on July 7 after agents in unmarked vehicles pursued his work van through city streets. According to an attorney representing his family, the substance was actually a homemade electrolyte drink mixture that Salgado Araujo and his construction crew prepared to maintain hydration during hot weather. Salgado Araujo had resided in the United States without legal authorization for 35 years while operating a homebuilding business and maintaining no criminal record.
Initially, the Department of Homeland Security stated that Salgado Araujo had “weaponized his vehicle” in an attempt to strike an ICE officer, characterizing the shooting as defensive. The FBI subsequently executed a search warrant on the vehicle, with officers alleging they observed small bags containing what appeared to be methamphetamine. However, two individuals who were passengers in the van submitted court statements asserting that ICE officers never faced danger from the vehicle and remained positioned to the side rather than in front of or behind it.
Legal representatives for the Salgado family contend the search warrant represents a government effort to construct a “false narrative.” An attorney with the ACLU of Texas described the agency’s actions in securing and unsealing the warrant as demonstrating greater interest in creating a particular account than in establishing facts. Salgado Araujo’s death represents one of at least ten fatalities occurring during immigration enforcement operations since the beginning of the current administration’s mass deportation initiatives, generating demonstrations in Houston and demands for an independent inquiry.
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